Entries in John Thune
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Thune dot Senate dot gov(WASHINGTON) -- We may have just witnessed one of the first skirmishes of the campaign for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Senator John Thune just took a swipe that seems to be aimed squarely at presumed 2012 candidate Mitt Romney, who on Tuesday attacked the deal Senate Republicans struck with President Obama to extend the Bush tax cuts.

“It's easy to stand on the sidelines and criticize this proposal,” Thune said in a speech on the Senate floor. “And it's perhaps even politically expedient to stand on the sidelines and criticize this proposal. But let me make one thing very clear Mr. President, advocating against this tax proposal is to advocate for a tax increase.”

Thune did not mention anybody by name, but in an article in Tuesday’s USA Today, Romney slammed the deal for adding to the deficit and failing to make the tax cuts permanent.

“The future for taxes has been left up in the air,” Romney wrote. “And uncertainty is not a friend of investment, growth and job creation.”